


The Chad No Longer Abides

by Merkwerkee



Series: Magical Space Prince [2]
Category: Masters of the Metaverse
Genre: Chronic Pain, s4 e19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22857142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merkwerkee/pseuds/Merkwerkee
Summary: When Thomas gets taken to a place the rest of the Metaverse cannot access, his bond to Chad is temporarily closed off. Chad doesn't know how temporary things are
Series: Magical Space Prince [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643158
Kudos: 1





	The Chad No Longer Abides

It’d been three days.

Chad looked at the counter before him, deep in thought. It’d been three days since he’d last felt Thomas. There was a hollow feeling behind his eyes now, like something had been scooped out and not replaced. It felt weirdly like the inverse of when he’d gotten his Keepstone, like someone’d pulled one of his eyes out of its socket.

And _God_ did it hurt. He hadn’t told Brad or any of the others, but being a Space Prince was fundamentally different than being a Magical Space Princess (and it wasn’t just the boobs). He looked down at his shaking hands and clenched them into fists; he’d been lucky the first time he’d gotten his Keepstone, the drugs and general lassitude letting the magic that would turn him into Magical Space Prince Chad sear open his magical channels safely if not painlessly, but the second time had left him with fine tremors in his hands, a general clumsiness he just couldn’t shake, and migraines that left him feeling like his brain was going to boil out through the hole in his skull where his Keepstone resided.

Thomas had helped; he had been a stabilizing influence sitting behind Chad’s eyes since before the first time he’d gotten a Keepstone (though Chad himself hadn’t realized it at the time). Thomas had managed to ease some of the pain - _brain and nerve damage_ , a part of Chad that sounded suspiciously like Ricci supplied - by just being there, and more when he actively called on Chad for help.

Chad liked to help, and though he wasn’t sure if Thomas was doing it on purpose or not, the fact that helping eased the pain was a great boon as well. Thomas had let him ground the shake in his hands, control his clumsiness, and keep his head up through even the worst of migraines.

But for three days now, Chad hadn’t been able to feel him. For three days, he’d had the worst migraine of his life. For three days, he’d been knocking things over and stumbling over nothing as tickles of pain ran up and down his spine.

For three days he hadn’t been able to cook anything but the simplest of dishes, hands too unsteady to hold a knife or stir a pot.

The others had noticed. He’d noticed them noticing; Zelania had refrained from being too sarcastic with him, Vega hadn’t punched him at all, Ricci had been dropping increasingly pointed hints about the benefits of advanced science and research and Elliana had redone his entire wardrobe. Brad hadn’t said anything; while Chad loved him more than his own brothers, and they were connected far more deeply than he was with the Sparkle Sisters, he wasn’t sure just how much Brad could feel of what he was feeling.

“You gonna make dinner, or should I get something out of the freezer?”

Brad’s voice interrupted Chad’s thoughts and he straightened, rubbing his shaking hands together like it would help. “I got this; go ahead and tell the others it’s macaroni and cheese for dinner again.”

“You got it, bro.” Brad hesitated before leaving. “You know I got your back, right?”

Chad didn’t look at him. “Yeah bro, I got it. You go ahead.”

“Alright bro.” Brad hopped to the floor and made his way out the door. It was a long moment after the sounds of him leaving faded before Chad started moving, mechanically grabbing a pot and the noodles - cursing quietly when he dropped the box and dried noodles spread themselves across the floor. He stared silently at his hands, at fingers jittery with misfired nerves, and sighed before beginning to clean up the mess.

It’d been three days. Thomas wasn’t coming back.


End file.
